Stainless steels are used in a large number of fields to form objects intended to remain visible and to have a clean surface appearance that is visually attractive through its brightness. This is in particular the case when they are used to manufacture furniture, household appliances, cutlery, building façade cladding, etc.
However, they have the drawback of making fingerprints left by the users of the objects in question highly visible, such that the surfaces of these objects must be cleaned regularly so as to benefit fully from the aesthetic properties of the stainless steel.
Various technical solutions have already been designed to alleviate this problem. Varnishes thus exist that are deposited by varnishing the surface of the stainless steel, and that make fingerprints visible only if the object is viewed from specific angles. However, this solution is not ideal, since it does not fully resolve the problem, given that the fingerprints remain visible under certain viewing conditions. Additionally, this varnish must be deposited during a specially dedicated manufacturing operation, which inevitably significantly increases the production cost of the object, and deteriorates the productivity of the production line of the objects, or that of the precursor semi-finished products (strips, plates, sheets or the like) from which they are derived. For the anti-fingerprint effect to remain, the layer of varnish also must not be significantly deteriorated over the course of the use of the object, which is not guaranteed when the object may be subject to friction during use (for example, knives, kitchen work surfaces, etc.). Lastly, the coating may be deteriorated if, after it is applied, the treated object must undergo shaping by stamping, bending or the like. Additionally, applying the coating only after shaping is not always possible or easy.